MENTOR, Ohio — The Alliance for Working Together held its 11th annual Combat RoboBotics competition on Saturday in Mentor.
The Robot Wars-like battle is Ohio’s largest regional combat robotics competition, attracting 160 students in 16 teams from 12 different schools across the state.
The high school robotics competition allows schools to partner with industry mentors to build 15-pound combat robots. Students design, build and battle their robots in an enclosed ring to see who comes out on top with the 2021 RoboBots Champion title.
“We are able to attack other teams with a lot of force and a lot of speed,” said Beaumont School senior Claire Wolf. “If other teams have sharp corners, we just go in for the weak spots as soon as possible.”
Wolf’s team, the Beaumonsters, was one of only two all-female teams competing on Saturday.
“It really just makes you want to win even more,” said Beaumont Senior Marissa Perlatti. “You’ve got to show that girls can be in competitions like this, and they can do robotics too.”
AWT works to create awareness and interest in manufacturing careers as well as to increase enrollment in training programs and ensure curriculum in those programs meets what manufacturers need.
“These are the jobs where most of these people will also help them participate in college funding,” said Congressman Dave Joyce. “They can end up working for five years, end up with a college degree and no debt.”
The program is used as a way for local manufacturers to mentor local talent. Many Robobot participants go on to become innovators, pursue engineering degrees and a few even begin working for their company sponsor upon graduation.
“You say ‘manufacturing' and people think old, dark, dirty, dangerous dead-end career. But that’s just not true in American, modern day manufacturing,” said executive director of AWT Juliana Petti
To view Saturday's competition, click here.
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